Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Justices Set To Hear High-Stakes Case On Emergency Care And Abortion
The New York Times: Supreme Court To Examine Clash Between Idaho Abortion Ban And Federal Law
The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Wednesday about whether Idaho’s near-total abortion ban conflicts with a federal law that protects patients who need emergency care, in a case that would determine access to abortions in emergency rooms across the country. The federal law affects only the sliver of women who face dire medical complications during pregnancy. The case may also have broader consequences if the justices adopt language about fetal personhood, some legal scholars argue, an increasingly polarizing fight that surfaced recently in Alabama, after its top court ruled that frozen embryos in test tubes should be considered children. (Van Sickle, 4/24)
NPR: What's At Stake As The Supreme Court Hears Case About Abortion In Emergencies
The case, known as Moyle v. United States (Mike Moyle is the speaker of the Idaho House), has major implications on everything from what emergency care is available in states with abortion bans to how hospitals operate in Idaho. Here's a summary of what's at stake. (Simmons-Duffin, 4/23)
The New York Times: Abortion Data Wars: States And Cities Debate How Much Information To Collect
In the fierce debate over abortion in the United States, the subject of data collection might seem wonky and tangential. But the information that state and city governments collect about abortion patients is becoming another flashpoint in the country’s bitter divide over the issue. Some states with Republican-controlled legislatures have moved to require more information about each abortion, while some states where Democrats dominate are reducing the information they collect, fearing that it may be used to identify patients or to prosecute abortion providers. (Belluck and Fitzsimmons, 4/23)
NBC News: 'One Person Responsible For This Nightmare': Biden Pins Florida 6-Week Abortion Ban On Trump
President Joe Biden on Tuesday scorched Florida's impending six-week abortion ban and said Donald Trump was responsible, casting the former president as a danger to women's freedoms. "This extreme Florida law is going to impact 4 million women in the state," Biden said during a speech in Tampa. "Let's be real clear. There's one person responsible for this nightmare. And he's acknowledged and he brags about it – Donald Trump." (Egwuonwu, Richards and Korecki, 4/23)
In other reproductive health news —
CBS News: IVF Clinic Accused Of Implanting Dead Embryos Into Would-Be Mothers
Nine Southern California couples have filed a lawsuit accusing the Ovation Fertility lab of negligence and recklessness for implanting dead embryos into would-be mothers, according to attorneys. "Late January of this year, Ovation committed a catastrophic error in their laboratory in which they exposed embryos to lethal chemicals, killing them," attorney Rob Marcereau said. "They killed all nine of our clients' embryos along with, we believe, many other people's." (Gile, 4/23)
Military.com: Military Women At Greater Risk Of Having Babies With Low Birth Weight, Scientific Review Finds
Women in the military could have a higher risk of giving birth to low-weight babies than their civilian counterparts, according to a scientific review published this week. The review, which analyzed 21 separate studies of pregnancies in the U.S. military from 1979 to 2023, found that about two-thirds of the studies concluded that active-duty servicewomen may be at heightened risk of having babies with a low birth weight. (Kheel, 4/23)
NBC News: Watchdog Group Asks 5 Attorneys General To Investigate Crisis Pregnancy Center Privacy Practices
A progressive watchdog group sent letters Tuesday asking attorneys general in five states to investigate the privacy practices of crisis pregnancy centers, arguing they could be misleading patients with claims that sensitive medical data is protected by health privacy laws, according to copies of the letters obtained by NBC News. (Brooks, 4/23)
